Thank you so much for weighing in on mine and Luke's lack of fun-having skillz. Indeed, we are excitement impaired. As a matter of fact, one of the more entertaining we've done today is laugh our heads off over your comments about what we should be doing!

We decided to go into Gatlinburg today and visit the various and sundry shops. Neither one of us had been there in years and thought there might be some new things there we'd like to see. My favorite shop was P. Graham Dunn where they have some stunning Christian art and laser-carved wallhangings. I particularly loved how they used scripture that isn't oft quoted, if that makes any sense. Beautiful stuff.

We planned on going to Cades Cove the entire time we were in Gatlinburg. Luke wasn't so thrilled about the prospect of going horseback riding but I figured he'd come around if I didn't force him and somehow let him think it was his idea.

Don't y'all act like you don't know what I'm talking about.

So when we happened upon a booth on the strip where you could book a Horseback Adventure, I wasn't totally shocked when Luke said, "Well, there you go. If you want to go ride horses let's just set it up."

I squealed on the inside but said, "Aww, honey. I know you don't really want to go. It's okay."

And then he proceeded to beg me to ride the horses.

I love being a woman.

But, here's the reality of why we have such a hard time finding fun things to do: We are just too stinkin' cheap. Y'all, that horse ride was going to cost $50!

Fifty AMERICAN dollars.

Now when someone tells me something is going to cost me half of a hundred dollars I immediately start thinking of all the things I could have in it's place. For example: Do I want to spend $50 on riding a stinky horse or getting a new outfit? $50 on a horse I couldn't get to run if I stuck it with a red hot poker or a great dinner that my husband will also enjoy?

I picked the outfit and dinner and felt much the better for it.

We still planned on riding through the Loop at Cades Cove so we got a drink and settled in the truck looking forward to a nice ride through the park together - albeit not on horseback. That is, until we saw a sign that said:

Cades Cove - 24 Miles

And y'all, we just didn't have that many miles of riding in us.

So, we ended up going back to Five Oaks Outlet. And, I am SO glad we did because I found some awesome shorts at the Gap for $6.97! And the salesgirl wasn't even an obnoxious little snot.

Sound like a perfect day or what?

So tomorrow it's back to business as usual. We'll be leaving in the morning to travel back to some semblance of normalcy. Even though the days of having nowhere to be and no time to be there have been great, crazy can only be put off for so long.

And I can't wait to put my arms around all four of them.

P.S. I should also mention I soldiered through writing a difficult portion of a chapter I've been working on tonight - so yay me!! I've accomplished something anyway?